10 of The Toughest Lessons in Building a B2B Startup. Or Any Startup.
Dear SaaStr: What Were Some of the Toughest Lessons You Learned About How to Build a Successful B2B Business? Some of the toughest lessons I’ve learned … and continue to re-learn: Even very talented co-founders may leave. You need to also make sure they are 110%...
To Really Scale, You Need $1M on Your Balance Sheet for Every $2M in ARR
"To really invest in your team, product, etc. you need at least $1 on the balance sheet for each $2 in ARR. At $20m ARR? You need $10m in the bank to make the hires, burn the tokens, etc. to really get to the next level. Below that … you hesitate."...
Dear SaaStr: What’s #1 On The Path to Becoming a Great VP of Sales?
Dear SaaStr: What’s #1 on the path to becoming a great VP of Sales? Each story is different, but there is one clear penultimate step: recruiting and managing a small sales team yourself. From scratch. What 95 times out of 100 is a recipe for failure is jumping...
Dear SaaStr: My Co-Founder is Threatening to Quit Unless I Give Him More Equity
Dear SaaStr: My Co-Founder is Threatening to Quit Unless I Give Him More Equity; what should I do? Generally, this is the last, best chance to fix things. Founder equity splits are a tough thing. What seems fair on Day 0 may seem less fair on Day 720. The one that...
Dear SaaStr: I’ve Hired 2 SDRs. Can I Hire an AE to Manage Them?
Dear SaaStr: After closing a few deals myself as a founder, I hired 2 SDRs and closed some more. Should I hire an AE to take over the SDRs and close or a VP of sales? Try to find a VP of Sales now, and try to hire an AE now. You probably will find the solid AE...
The CEO Never Gets to Step Away From Sales
"The #1 mistake founders make when they hire their first VP of Sales? Or even just their first sales rep? They step back from sales. No. You don't get that time back. It's just what you do in sales, changes." pic.twitter.com/wwUzRvrbt0 — Jason...
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Have to Get Right in a Start-Up?
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Have to Get Right in a Start-Up? So many folks I meet want to start a start-up. They have an idea they are passionate about. They’ve worked under a great CEO, and they’re ready — they think — to do it on their own...
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Way I Can Accelerate My Career Growth?
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Way I Can Accelerate My Career Growth? My uber-learnings: Find the best boss you can; and Take on every initiative, project, task, and endeavor you possibly can from her. And work for them for a while. Long enough to get promoted once,...
Dear SaaStr: Our VC Is Encouraging Us to Hire Aggressively and Increase the Burn Rate. Should We Listen to Them?
Dear SaaStr: Our VC Is Encouraging Us to Hire Aggressively and Increase the Burn Rate. Should We Listen to Them? In my experience, about 66-70% of the time this is bad advice, especially if it is coming from a Very Large VC. Not always. But more often than not. Why?...
A Simple Guide To Being in the Top 25% of Sales Professionals
Dear SaaStr: What is the best sales advice you can give to be a top sales rep? Sales execs can screw up so many things and still close a lot if they just get 1 thing right If they just are a true subject matter expert in the product they sell Yet so many aren't...
9 Signs a Startup Isn’t Going to Make It with SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin
In a recent Workshop Wednesday, SaaStr Founder and CEO, Jason Lemkin sat down to discuss 9 signs a startup isn’t going to make it.
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Mistake New Sales Leaders Make?
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Mistake New Sales Leaders Make? Let me just summarize my #1 observation here: the top mistake first-time sales managers make is recruiting. In that — they can’t do it. They can’t recruit great reps. They can recruit some mediocre...
If Times Are Tough — Don’t Hide. Be Present.
What I see CEOs at struggling start-ups do: – Go dark– Hide– Lash out– Tweet about lots of things non-work– Invest time on tiny expenses– Argue internally What should do: – Be Present– Be Honest– Be the Rock–...
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Most Important Thing To Look For In Your First Sales Rep?
Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Most Important Thing To Look For In Your First Sales Rep? The #1 most important criterion for your first 2 reps is: would you buy from her? For real? Would you truly, 100%, buy your own product from them? 98% of the reps you interview …...
CEO & Founder
Related Posts
Industry News
- Megaspeed says Alice Huang left in 2025 as it launches internal probe into reports about its business
- Russian Cyberattackers Hit Expedia—Claiming Nearly A Billion Traveler Records Exposed
- eBay bans the robot shopper, unless eBay sends the invitation
- ElevenLabs’ new app combines meeting note-taking and dictation for teams
- Nvidia-Backed Nscale Warns It Needs More 'Financing' Amid $44.6B Anthropic Contract Ahead of US IPO As Nine-Month Loss Widens to $1.69 Billion
- Nvidia's New CEO Colette Kress Seems Tougher on OpenAI Than Huang Was
- Microsoft’s latest email outage turned into a full-blown global cloud crisis
- Zeta Global raises 2026 revenue forecast to $1.855bn after 46% Q3 jump
- AppLovin Just Ripped 47% in a Month: Is It Too Late to Buy APP Stock Now?
- FBI says US has seized $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency stolen from Binance